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playing defender to his striker and honing her bowling skills
while he found new interpretations of the rules in order to
remain at the crease – as only brothers can.
While much is made of Perry playing two sports at an elite
level (while pursuing university studies), she has actually had
to choose from many more. The Perrys are a sporty family:
mother Kathy is a former swimmer, father Mark played
cricket and squash at representative level and remains one
of his daughter’s cricket coaches. Watching her dad teach
Damien to bowl first sparked Perry’s interest in cricket.
(Damien, now 26, is in cricketing retirement apart from an
occasional Christmas Day tournament.)
Had Ellyse pursued swimming, her parents would have
been saved some driving time: there was a pool at the end of
their street. Instead, she played a variety of sports to a high
level, including touch football, before focusing on football
and cricket.
Unlike other athletes, Perry has turned sporting dreams
into a career reality not once but twice. She debuted for
both the Matildas and Southern Stars in 2007, just two
weeks apart, when aged 16 and still at high school in
Sydney. Those achievements make her both the youngest
person – male or female – to represent Australia in cricket,
and the first Australian to have played in both football and
cricket World Cups.
Duality surrounds Perry: duality in the sports she plays,
obviously, but also in how people regard her. On the one
hand, she’s commended on being able to excel at two sports.
FROM LEFT PLAYING FOR CANBERRA UNITED IN 2011 (MATT KING/
GETTY IMAGES); BOWLING AND BATTING FOR AUSTRALIA IN 2014
(SCOTT BARBOUR/GETTY IMAGES)